Banglamung police arrest light-fingered Internet maid

Banglamung police have arrested a woman marketing herself online as a maid in order to rob the homes of Thai-foreign couples in Pattaya.

Preaw Khankhao, 26, and her husband and alleged partner-in-crime Ketkaew Ngamjan-add, 23, were captured Nov. 24 in his home town of Srakaew following complaints from three Thai wives of Pattaya expats. Officers recovered three gold pendant necklaces, a gold bracelet, three diamond-encrusted gold rings, two gold pendants, two gold medals, 1,425 euros, $17, three motorbikes and electrical appliances.

Somsri Tranaoridis, 40; Nuchyada Markclaw, 24; and Saowajee Legkian, 41, all have filed burglary complaints with the Nongprue Police Station about Preaw, a Nakhon Ratchasima native who they hired for cleaning services after finding her advertisement on social-media websites.

Preaw Khankhao and her husband Ketkaew Ngamjan-add (seated) have been caught and arrested for theft.

Somsri, who lives with her foreign husband in a house in the Rattanakorn Garden Home 5 development, said she hired Preaw for a three-day trial Feb. 4-7. On the final day, the couple left Preaw in the house, only to return to find the home ransacked, their safe opened and 1.6 million baht in cash and jewelry stolen.

Nuchyada and Saowajee - also married to foreign husbands - said they too hired Preaw, who was marketing herself as a maid for mixed-nationality couples. They lost 20,000 and 200,000 baht in cash and jewelry, respectively.

Nongprue Police Superintendent Col. Suthisak Wantee issued an arrest warrant for Preaw, who he suspected was working as part of a burglary team. It was her husband who was skilled at safe cracker, police said.

Police said Preaw confessed to six burglaries, using the cash to build a house for her father-in-law and purchase electrical appliances and motorbikes.

The victims initially offered 50,000 baht to anyone who can give information leading to the thief arrest. They eventually just gave the cash to police for cracking the case.

This article was published in the Pattaya Mail newspaper on Friday February 28, 2014 (Vol. XXII No. 9).